The field of Electronic Warfare (EW) is split into two categories: Electronic Counter Measures (ECM) and Electronic Counter Counter-Measures (ECCM). Employing ECM jamming tactics means using a system which can degrade the operation of enemy electronic systems while negligibly affecting the operation of friendly electronic systems. More specifically, this consists in generating or transmitting a secondary radio signal which has the sole purpose of interfering or degrading the reception of a primary enemy radio signal so that it prevents distant enemy receiver(s) from correctly recovering the primary signal. The primary radio signal is usually considered a threat or an enemy signal intended for use by a distant enemy receiver(s), whereas the secondary radio signal is considered as the counter-measures or jamming signal which attempts to prevent any useful utilization of the primary signal by the distant enemy receiver.
ECCM is a group of practices or techniques that reduce the probability of a jammer impeding a communication link. This is done by reducing the probability of detection and interception, thereby causing link degradation or loss of link. The ECCM communication mode may involve having a primary signal adequately encoded and/or distributed in frequency so that the receiving electronics of the receiver(s) can easily suppress or avoid a secondary jamming signal or uncorrelated interference energy while at the same time enhancing the intended primary signal energy so as to be more clearly demodulated for intelligence by the receiver(s).
Other techniques in this field include sensing (SIGINT) for RF sensing, and radio communication of data. Typically, ECM equipment and sensing equipment are made of individual units, i.e. one functionality per unit. Similarly, radio communication units are conceived to only communicate data, with limited abilities to sample the current channel of operation to assess its quality. Sensing techniques may also be used to enhance primary radio communications and therefore may not always be EW related.
Each mode of operation has its own purpose and therefore, a unit designed to operate in a given mode is provided with a particular set of features and the hardware/software combination that will result in these features. Hence, exploiting all of the various possible techniques in the field of EW and radio communication can get expensive and complex.